SilverLady

I would definitely add the Taurus, also. I had a Mercury Sable (the exact same car, a bit nicer) back in 1988. It was a revolution in American quality and design. It was the first time I felt an American car was actually engineered, not just thrown together to look pretty. Of course I may be particularly enamored because I am a mechanical engineer, but I remember even my Mom looking at the car and commenting that the workers at the Ford factory must have really loved putting that vehicle together.

The Expedition was more minor, but still an important influence. I used to say that every family in my neighborhood had an SUV if they had one or two children, and a mini-van if three or more. The Expedition went up a notch in size, added extra seats, and changed all that. It became a whole new class of vehicle - the supersized SUV. Unfortunately, much of the influence was bad. The normal sized SUVs (Explorer, Pathfinder, etc.) started growing each year, and now they all have a third row of pathetic seats that add weight and remove storage capacity.

Oh yeah, I have never seen an Expedition in anybody's garage around here. Every time I've asked the owner said they wouldn't have the nerve to try.